ARTIFICIAL EESEEDING ON WESTEEK MOUKTAIN BANGE LANDS 33 



given almost as good results in many instances as fall sowing. In 

 the regions mentioned, seedlings from early spring sowing usually 

 do not develop a root system adequate to sustain them through any 

 protracted dry spell, whereas seed that was sown late in the fall and 

 allowed to lie dormant during the winter and to work into the ground 

 to some extent germinates as soon as the snow melts, and the seedlings 

 have well-developed root systems by the time a dry period occurs. 

 Seeding in the fall, however, must be done sufficiently late to prevent 

 germination taking place until spring; otherwise losses may occur 

 from heaving of the soil or winterkilling. The seed of species with 

 highly impermeable seed coats, like alfileria, for example, have an 

 extended period of dormancy, and it is necessary for the seed to 

 " weather " through the winter to germinate well. 



If the soil of the area to be reseeded is saturated most of the 

 year, late fall sowing should be avoided lest the seed decay before 

 germination can take place the following spring. 



Tests indicate that the time for sowing is especially important 

 in the Southwest, where precipitation is largely seasonal and often 

 local and erratic, and where the season of favorable growing tem- 

 peratures is long. In fact in this region time of sowing seems to be 

 the most important single controllable factor. A few successes have 

 been obtained with fall (October) sowings, but in reseeding tests 

 success has been achieved in the greatest number of cases with late 

 spring seedings, and the greatest number of failures have followed 

 midsummer (August) sowing. In this region the best results so 

 far have been obtained by taking advantage of the favorable ger- 

 minating conditions obtaining when the early summer or the occa- 

 sional late spring rains have begun, after the spring drought has 

 ended. Seeding should, however, be done late enough so that rodents 

 will not eat the seed before it has a chance to germinate. The seed- 

 lings, if precipitation is normal, usually attain sufficient develop- 

 ment to withstand unfavorable fall conditions. 



In general, spring sowing will give good results where the site 

 remains moist throughout the summer, and fall sowing is preferable 

 where a summer drought is to be expected. 



SOWING AND SOIL TREATMENT 



In range improvement by artificial reseeding the seed must be 

 satisfactorily distributed by some means over the area to be sown 

 and also be brought into sufficiently close contact with the soil to 

 insure good germination and a reasonably even stand. At the same 

 time the cost should not exceed a conservative estimate of the returns 

 to be obtained. The methods used must be justified by the value 

 of the increase in carrying capacity of the range. 



In scattering the seed, both hand broadcasting and sowing with 

 the farmer's small hand seeder are economical and effective. The 

 hand seeder requires less practice in getting the seed evenly scattered, 

 but an experienced man can obtain as good results by hand broad- 

 casting. The procedure should be the same on the range and in the 

 farm pasture. Drilling in the seed is sometimes justified where 

 the ground has been plowed and fully prepared. 



